Why I love you
by Emily Fellers
Summary: A on shot Fluff about Tsunade and Jiraiya.


A small figure layed hunched over the slightly twitching body of a dying baby bird. On the grass surrounding the bird lay several stones and a set of feet. Those feet belonged to a crying little girl who had stooped down and slowly lifted the body into her petite hands. The girl simply sat there watching the baby bird, unsure of how to help it. The bibrd's twitches escalated violently, rocking the tiny body with each spasm.  
"No, don't die...please don't die, please!" The girl sobbed as the bird gave a final shudder and was still. This only encouraged the girl to cry harder, tears leaving salty trails down her face. She hugged the tiny body to her own and fell to her knees.  
It was all that pale faced boy's fault! She'd seen the baby fall from the nest, high in the tree above and, sh was going to take it home to fix it's newly broken wing. Before she got there that pale little boy, with those ugly purple marks under his eyes, came over and had placed a snake near the baby. She'd watched in horror as the snake eyed the bird hungirly. She'd felt so bad that she picked up some stones and threw them at the snake until one finally crushed it's head. then, she'd made the mistake. just to be sure the snake was dead she hurled one last stone through the air. Time itself had seemed to slow down as the stone flew over it's intended target and, smashed into the bird's chest.  
The pale faced boy had only laughed at her saying, "See? The thing deserved to die!" Her only response was to pick up his dead snake and thrust it at him in a rush to see the bird. The boy left after that muttering and rambling on about a waste of good predator.  
The snapping of a twig behind her sent the girl back to reality. "Huh? W-who's there? I've got a r-r-r..." she began to cry once more being reminded of her dirty deed.  
"Hey are you okay?" The girl blinked. A boy about her age with shaggy white had and small red marks under his eyes was down on his hands and knees peering up at her.  
The girl rubbed her eyes. "y-yeah, I think s-so..." she replied with a hiccup. The boy nodded. "That's good. I saw what happened."  
"You did?"  
"Yep."  
"Oh." The girl turned her eyes downward at the still warm body in her hands. She knew she should drop it but, she couldn't.  
"Hold on a sec. I'll be back." The boy said following the girl's gaze, then, he turned and ran.  
The girl just sat there under the tree, not quite sure what to do. After a few moments the boy with the white hair appeared from out of the bushes holding a shovel and some potted plants. The little blue flowers in the pot bobbed up and down as he approached the tree.  
"What're those for?" The little girl asked, her curiosity getting the better of her.  
"You'll see," was his only response as he began to stick the shovel in the dirt. Five minutes and a small dirt pile later he turned and pointed to the bird.  
"Put it in that hole there." He instructed her, pointing to the small hole he'd dug out. The girl nodded grimly and placed the small body in the tight space.  
"'Kay." Then the boy was digging again, refilling his hole and drawing a rough 'X' in the dirt above the little grave.  
"Now, hand me the potted plants." The girl obeyed without question. She watched as the boy clumsily dumped the plants out of the pot a placed them into a hoe he had dug out on the spot labeled with the 'X'.  
"Good." The boy stood up,dusted of his hands and rubbed the dirt off his hands as best he could.  
"Now your fateful bird friend has a grave." He nodded solemnly. Meekly the girl tugged his sleeve.  
"What're those flowers?" She asked pointing to the small, deep blue buds.  
"Those are forget-me-nots. By the way, my name's Jiraiya."  
"Mine's Tsunade... hey Jiraiya?"  
"Yeah?"  
"Thanks."  
" No problem. I saw what Orochimaru did, it was really rotten of him. I figured you didn't mean to kill the bird. Especially when you started crying so, I thought this would make you feel better." He looked at her for a moment and, then back at the grave.  
"Yeah, it did. That's..." her voice trailed off, cut by her emotions.  
"That's?"  
"That's..why I said 'thanks'." She told him even though, standing there with him she'd never really meant to say that.

_**35 YEARS LATER**_

A lone gravestone sits under a large weeping willow tree by a river. The grass has grown to unruly heights thanks to neglect and dandelions sway, caught in the breeze.A single woman, with long blond pigtails approaches the sight of remembrance. She sits at the base of the tree, just above the headstone and she finishes she looks down at the the freshly planted forget-me-nots and, cries.  
"Jiraiya, you fool, I never got to tell you!I never neant to say 'That's why I said thanks'!" She begins to stroke the inscribed letters in the stone, her tears filling the crevices.  
After a long while she she wipes her face with her fist, just as she had so many, many years ago.  
"Lady Tsunade! Lady Tsunade?" A voice echoes in the distance. As if pulled by some invisible strings, she reluctantly leaves, walking towards the voice. Then, she stops. She slowly turns her head to look at the grave site and,softly cries;  
"'That's why I love you.'"

Author Note: In case you did not know, Tsunade quotes what she had inscribed in Jiraiya's headstone. I refer to it as a sight of remembrance because, if you read the manga thus far, you know that Jiraiya's body was never recovered. Thanks for reading, please review! :)


End file.
